Total-body MR imaging in as little as 18 seconds.

Eighteen human subjects underwent echo-planar magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the whole body at 1.5 T. A stack of axial images was obtained from the top of the head to the feet with gradient-echo, spin-echo, and inversion-recovery spin-echo pulse sequences by moving the patient table through the magnet isocenter. In all examinations, the subjects tolerated the procedure well and table motion was uniform. Image quality depended on careful setting of the transmit frequency, gain, and shims. Results were easily obtained and reproducible in all cases in as little as 18 seconds.